Managed care organizations often place costly new drugs on a formulary’s priciest tier, but products for which substitutes do not exist often are made available at lower copayment levels. Average copayments for single-source, brand-name products are considerably lower than those for branded compounds available from multiple sources. Interpretation suggests that employers and MCOs recognize that access to products for which substitutes are unavailable — particularly when they can save lives or reduce morbidity — is important, even though the relative cost of most single-source products is high.
Average copayments, by product source, 1999
SOURCE: WYETH-AYERST PRESCRIPTION DRUG BENEFIT COST AND PLAN DESIGN SURVEY, COPYRIGHT 2000, PHARMACY BENEFIT MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE, TEMPE, ARIZ.
Paul Lendner ist ein praktizierender Experte im Bereich Gesundheit, Medizin und Fitness. Er schreibt bereits seit über 5 Jahren für das Managed Care Mag. Mit seinen Artikeln, die einen einzigartigen Expertenstatus nachweisen, liefert er unseren Lesern nicht nur Mehrwert, sondern auch Hilfestellung bei ihren Problemen.